Sunday, March 23, 2014

Words from Jared Anderson in Brazil

"Well this week we had a baptism which surprised me more than anything! His name
is Leonardo he is 12 years old and many of his family members are members of the
church, the surprising thing was to see a boy of twelve learn and grow so
incredibly much in such a short amount of time. Our first visit I thought to
myself, `Oh great he doesn´t understand these things and just wants have the
`social´ aspect of the church, I was quickly humbled when he said the closing
prayer. He simply stated `Dear Father in Heaven I believe these things are true,
please help me know if they really are.´ It was one of the most sincere prayers
i have heard in my entire life, as the Holy Ghost Undeniably filled the room.
What added more to my surprise was immediately after we had left he had already
read our assignment (2 nephi 31) and prayed concerning the Book of Mormon and
Joseph Smith, and had also received an answer, he described it as a warm
peaceful feeling that filled his heart. I nearly broke down and started to cry.
I was utterly in awe of this young mans diligence and desire to know the truth.
He has been such an example to my companion and i, and is even telling his mom
everything he has learned and expressing his desire for her to join the church,
but she will be returning to Brasilia, Brazil, Huh? what a coincidence since
Garrett is serving there, and she happens to live in the EXACT area he is
serving in now. The Lord sure works in mysterious ways and i am so thankful to
be apart of this work. We do ALOT of contacts. Trying to find some people that
are prepared. The ward is getting better each week and it is so awesome to see
them changing before our very eyes, and we have also been informed there are yet
to be some really big changes in our ward, so i am very excited! Love you all,
and i am starting to get chubby again, the rice and beans gets
ya!"